Current through Register Vol. 48, No. 38, September 20, 2024
a) The Referee to
whom the appeal was assigned, or a hearings supervisor if the Referee is not
available, shall grant a continuance requested by a party only for "exceptional
reasons". The request must be made in person, by telephone, or in writing by
mail, fax or e-mail. The request must be received prior to the conclusion of
the hearing. A request for continuance received after the conclusion of the
hearing will be treated as a request for reopening in accordance with Section
2720.255.
"Exceptional reasons" are limited to:
1)
Compassionate Grounds:
A) Medical reasons
that prevent the individual from appearing if the Referee is provided with
proper documentation or proof of those reasons, including but not limited to a
previously scheduled medical appointment; or
B) Medical emergency or death in the
family;
2) Unforeseen
circumstances such as accident, flood, fire, civil disorder, public utility
emergency, military necessity, or other insuperable interference;
3) A demand by a party to obtain legal
representation or to inspect the case file, provided that it is shown at the
time of the request that due diligence was exerted to obtain that
representation or to inspect the file;
4) The claimant is employed, is scheduled for
an employment interview, or is participating in a training program approved for
him or her by the Director under the provisions of Section 500C5 of the Act at
the time of the hearing and cannot reasonably appear at the hearing either in
person or by telephone;
5) When a
party's attorney has a conflict in his or her schedule because he or she has an
appointment with a client, a court appearance or comparable matter scheduled
for the same time as the hearing before the Referee and the attorney cannot
reasonably appear at the hearing before the Referee and cannot reasonably find
a substitute counsel;
EXAMPLE: A continuance is requested because a party's
attorney has a conflict in his schedule because he has a court appearance
scheduled for the same time as the hearing before the Referee. The court
appearance is for a routine matter, such as an agreed motion or a status call,
which could be handled by another member of the attorney's firm. Such a
conflict will not constitute good cause for a continuance. It will be incumbent
on the attorney to reschedule his court appearance or obtain substitute counsel
to appear in his stead before the Referee.
6) The employer's representative or witness
is unable to appear either in person or by telephone due to a plant shutdown
for vacation, inventory or holiday that is provided for by a collective
bargaining agreement or the employer's custom and the Referee is provided with
documentation of that contract agreement or custom;
7) A party is unable to attend the hearing
either in person or by telephone due to a conflicting legal or regulatory
requirement, including but not limited to jury duty; or
8) When, at the same time as the hearing
before the Referee, a party's representative is scheduled to participate in
another hearing before a Referee or Director's representative and no other
reasonable accommodation can be made, on the condition that the representative
notifies the Department of the conflict no later than five working days after
issuance of the hearing notice that should have made the conflict patently
evident.
b) In the event
that a continuance is granted, the hearing will be set for the earliest
available time and date, but, absent exceptional reasons, no more than seven
days after the scheduled hearing. The Department will inform the parties of the
date, time and place of the continued hearing either orally or in
writing.
